Seems my last post triggered good memories. I post the following with the kind permission of the authors.
Oh, helps if you read the original entry: Space Goop at Acacia.
I'll lead off with two of the people making the music.
J.R. Mangan: (vocals/guitar: Space Goop): "Now that was a great day."
Mike Biddeson: (1/2 of brother part of Space Goop) Brian shared your blog. Really fun piece. We had such a blast that day but it is really cool to experience the event through your eyes as well as others who have commented. I tried to make a comment on the Facebook post/blog but didn't see a spot to do it. So a couple of fill in the blanks...
I played bass and guitar. JR and I switched. At first it was because it was determined by who learned the song and sang lead vocal on a song, but then it became a ridiculously dramatic beer infused monk chant when we switch guitars, usually inexplicably being accompanied with a flying lobster. Who knows why these things happen.
The Acacia guys were such fun and that was a very generous event to gift the community with. Dave and I went onto rejoin our old band Ticapoo Brain which was joined by Beth Williams (before she lost her h). Then we started making music with Kevin Slick (who I think sat in with Goop on the Acacia event) in Neo Pseudo which was more of an all original band. We moved to Philly and played clubs til the mid 90s. Neo Pseudo has lots of stuff on you tube. I still play with my brother in another all original band called the llama Dalis. You can find us on iTunes.
Anyway thanks for the awesome blast of memories. Great article and cool that your back in the valley.
PS I've been working on a book called "Zart, the art of everything" I'll keep you posted!
Mike Goop
Goop accidentally formed I think in the summer of 85 back in Mansfield where I was doing grad school in art ed and JR and Dave just finished undergrad. I think anyway. Very fluid time. Lots of moving and various band configurations.
Brian Hulek (Acacia Social Chair at that time): "I set a goal as a freshman to ‘have the biggest party at Penn State’ and that was the moment perhaps!
The band was at the end where Locust Lane passes the house and people were backed up all the way to the swimming pool at the frat next door. And our 2nd level deck was overflowing.
It was one of the best days ever for all involved. I had brothers who hated me crying and hugging me saying ‘It was the best day of their lives’. Every brother at Acacia got a supplementary bill at the end of the semester!😂
Oh yes. I had a VIP section up front with our own keg and pledge pouring.
[about the blog entry]: Unbelievably well done Sophie! YOU are now forever linked to the event!
Jeff Podeszwa: I’d like to add a few points.
I was a TKE pledge at the time and of course we were supposed to “work” that party. I think my station was, “make sure people aren’t drinking in the street” as the new law was being enforced. Hell Week was rapidly approaching and the abuse level was also ratcheted up a few notches. Upon arrival it was evident that all bets were off. The scene was akin to a grand music festival, not just a party but An Event. Like all great events, they don’t necessarily need to be planned, sponsored and promoted. An event to define the era. I’ve been to some big events Live Aid, Grateful Dead on New Years Eve, outdoor dance festivals at Mt. Fuji, but this one was special. I think the most I worked was getting beers for some brothers. It made no matter, as the music enveloped us we became equals, the physical plane lifted, only our souls danced. Floating spirits, spread out around the lawn, I don’t remember a single violent incident, or a face without a smile or a welcoming attitude.
“This is the reason I am here. I am here right now for this reason” was my brain’s explanation.
By rule, there were certain fraternity people we were not allowed to address without certain formalities, but that all flew out the window. Listening to the tape it is easy to see why, Can’t You See is a love letter to past relationships and hometowns, the reggae influenced Fire On the Mountain is a clever take on a difficult cover. The band was phenomenal, I’ll venture that the Walk on The Will Side>Can’t Always Get What You Want may have been the pinnacle of any live music I saw at PSU. And Goop did Good Lovin’>La Nacho> Good Lovin’ a full year before Garcia belted out La Bamba.
The angle of the sun, the feeling of youthful invincibility, that a future better than the present will always be waiting, yeah that optimism crystalized in two songs. But it happened.
Little did we know that this was not the Woodstock, rather it was the Altamont, the nadir of social life at PSU. The restrictions that followed turned Phi Psi 500 into a mere shell of itself and off-campus parties and fraternities would be hunted and vilified by the authorities in a manner yet unseen by the masses.
No matter, because for that beautiful day at Acacia, we shared that time, forever locked deep inside ourselves. And no one can ever take that away.
Thank you to Brian J Hulek for the tape and of course, J.R. Mangan and Space Goop for a real good time!
great blog Sophie Lynne!
My response to Jeff's bit: I'd say it WAS the Woodstock, as it may have been the peak of a generation. Thanks to Bryce Jordan (PSU president at that time) putting in draconian party rules, things were never the same. Now in my 50s, I sorta understand the why of it- litigation- but he handled it all wrong. By the time I graduated, it was a lot less fun. When I tell stories of back in the day to current undergrads, they can't believe it. Kegs at a party??
Skull Toga 1988
Stephanie Rado Taormina: Jeff Podeszwa omg! What a great post above from you! I haven’t thought about that day in over 30 years but you nailed it and we were lucky to have experienced it.. part of what makes us who we all are today in some way.
Laura Pace Lilley: Love this blog!!! I covered music for the Collegian so I agree that music really made our time there special...and takes ya right back...
Thanks to those who allowed me to share their memories of that day. And that's the thing- at Penn State in the mid-80s, this was in many ways just another Saturday. It was Phi Psi weekend which made it a bit special, yes, but seeing an amazing band at a party was a regular thing for us back then.
It really was a special time. Maybe that's why I wrote a book about it.
Mic drop.🌅
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